The core group within the Pittsburgh Penguins took missing the playoffs personally and plan on fighting their way back.

The Pittsburgh Penguins entered this last offseason in pretty unfamiliar territory having missed the postseason for the first time since the 2005-06 season.

To say no one on the Penguins was happy with how the 2022-23 season ended would be an understatement, but certain veterans may have taken it to heart.

15 games into the 2023-24 season, the core of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang are once again showing why they are some of the greatest players in franchise history.

Crosby and Malkin are producing at elite-level paces, and Letang has settled nicely into a new role that highlights his defensive skill.

All three have appeared in 15 games so far this season; Crosby leads the team in points with 10 goals and 10 assists for 20 points, Malkin is close behind with eight goals and nine assists for 17 points.

Letang, while still producing nicely on the score sheet (1G-7A) has excelled in a defensive role noticed mostly on the penalty kill.

The Penguins had a bit of a skid in the early stages of the year, but Crosby is leading by example and looking to show last year was just a fluke.

“He obviously wasn’t happy with how things went last year,” Bryan Rust said on Crosby. “I don’t think any of us were. He took it personal. You can see how focused he is and how driven he is to have success.”

Rust has been having his own resurgence this season with nine goals in 15 games, a much needed boost for the lineup.

Head coach Mike Sullivan followed in that path of the core players taking missing the playoffs to heart.

Sullivan gave similar words when discussing Malkin.

“I think he’s a driven guy,” Sullivan said. “He’s taken it personally when we didn’t make the playoffs last year. These guys have high expectations of themselves. That one stung.”

The Penguins and their stars have something to prove this season, they know they are better than what last year showed and age won’t matter to them.

Crosby and Letang are 36-years-old, Malkin 37, yet they plan on leading the way for a Penguins squad who is once again hungrier than ever to win.

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